Just after Thanksgiving the children and grand children in
our family begin making cookie and candy houses in anticipation of visitors from
the North Pole. The guests, a fairy family, come to stay until Christmas. The
fairies have lots of fun adventures, let Santa know how good everyone's been,
and tag along (in secret) on holiday service projects.
The sky's the limit on the spread the kids create for their
family - sledding hills, skating ponds, and swimming pools with diving boards.
One house had a slide that started at the top of the roof and shot down onto a
toboggan run that extended to the end of the gum drop garden. Candy trees
covered with licorice vines give the fairy family a great place to swing from.
We began this tradition years ago when our children were
little, and now each set of grandchildren has their own fairies. The ones that
used to come to our house were Uncle Henry and Aunt Agatha who tried very hard
to keep their niece and nephew, Tom and Martha, under control. But Tom and
Martha used to get mixed up in silly adventures that our children loved. Tom
broke his ankle on the toboggan run, and got himself locked in the cupboard by
a squirrel. Martha tried to sneak some candy canes from the pantry, but she
accidentally knocked over a sack of flour, spilling the contents all over her
so she looked like a snowman.
Every night the children write letters to the fairies and
during the middle of the night the fairies write back. They make sure to tell
the children how much they enjoyed their piano practicing, and how quick they
were to clean up the table after dinner.
Sometimes the fairies suggest service ideas to help everyone
get in the Christmas spirit - like singing carols for the lady down the street
or giving cookies to the postman.
If the day has been very busy and the kids haven't had time
to write their letter to the fairies, they call their message from the fire
place up the chimney. Sometimes the fairies only have time to draw a quick
picture about the nights adventures because they accidentally got shut in the
dog house by the cat or stuck up the chimney surrounded by an army of live
miniature marshmallows.
We have found that this is a great way to enhance the
holiday spirit and give the children a creative adventure. Invite a fairy
families to your house and have as much fun as the imaginations living with you
can think up.
Happy Holidays.
